Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...

Investigate poetry and song lyrics with your class. They will identify poetic elements in their favorite modern music. Then they will play their song choice aloud for their classmates.

Tenth graders are introduced to the poetic process. They onnect poetry to life in a meaningful way become more careful readers of poetry. They listen to a variety of poems, then write responses at the end of each adventure.

Eighth graders search a website and locate a poem written by a specific poet whose work appears in the grade 8 anthology. After listening to poetry, 8th graders present oral or written examples of imagery and an analysis of the imagery.

High schoolers discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....

The opening of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit provides a model of how to use rich details to create a setting. After reading the description of Bilbo Baggins’ abode, young writers create their own magical home for a fantasy creature. The...

Students explore composition and symmetry to create their own digital media piece. In this design composition instructional activity, students visit the online websites and examples of asymmetrical compositions and symmetry. Students...

In this simile instructional activity, learners review the definition and an example about similes. Students then write five similes about ladybugs, pick out the best one, and then illustrate it.

Young scholars investigate elements by by defining scientific terms.  In this Periodic Table of Elements instructional activity, students utilize a glass of water, and powdered fruit drink to perform a lab activity demonstrating...

Readers practice character analysis by reviewing Gary Soto's short story "La Bamba" with the whole class (anything you've read together will work). They design t-shirts that feature traits and story elements to reveal the nature of a...

Students explore neighborhoods. In this color and social studies cross-curriculum activity, students listen to Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, then compare and contrast neighborhoods. Students mix primary colors to make...

Learners explore the Johnny Appleseed story. In this service learning instructional activity, students listen to the story of Johnny Appleseed and discover how he was a philanthropist.

Eighth graders examine a new kind of art that is used to respond to political and social issues. Using primary source documents, they read examples of how others have responded to various issues in the past. Individually, they create...

Eleventh graders trace Taylor's use of conceit or extended metaphor in his poem "Huswifery" where he compares the process of cloth making to God's salvation of man, and write a poem in which they compare a personal transformation with an...

Students explore the concept of neighborhoods and identify primary and secondary colors. In this colors and community lesson, students read the book Harold and the Purple Crayon and then discuss the concept of a neighborhood. Students...

Students discover literature by conducting a free writing experiment. In this sonnet lesson, students read the sonnet "The Parting" and compare it to modern-day songs about breaking up. Students listen to pop music in class and...

In this alliteration learning exercise, students review the definition and an example for alliterations. Students then write their own alliterations about dinosaurs and illustrate one of their examples in the box.

Fifth graders discuss cartoons. In this art lesson, 5th graders make their own cartoon using vocabulary words from the American Revolution.